Alan
descended from the machine, which departed silently, and stood for a
moment wondering what he should do. His impulse was to jump into a bus
and go straight to his rooms or his club, to which Sir Robert did not
belong, but being no coward, he dismissed it from his mind.
His fate hung in the balance, of that he was well aware. Either he must
disregard Mr. Jackson's warning, confirmed as it was by many secret
fears and instincts of his own, and say nothing except that he had
failed in his mission, or he must take the bull by the horns and break
with the firm. To do the latter meant not only a good deal of moral
courage, but practical ruin, whereas if he chose the former course,
probably within a fortnight he would find himself a rich man. Whatever
Jackson and a few others might say in its depreciation, he was certain
that the Sahara flotation would go through, for it was underwritten,
of course upon terms, by responsible people, moreover the unissued
preferred shares had already been dealt in at a heavy premium. Now to
say nothing of the allotment to which he was entitled upon his holding
in the parent Syndicate, the proportion of cash due to him as a partner,
would amount to quite a hundred thousand pounds.
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